Saturday, October 5, 2019, Gail Grabowski

Saturday Themeless by Gail Grabowski

Probably somewhat dated info

Today I had a nice Easter Egg hunt with Gail's offering. I found my basketful in the SE corner and then had to work my way back up for a very satisfying "got 'er done!" That made my time a little higher than usual but did not diminish my pleasure in doing one of Gail's always fun offerings.

Any lady who authors such fun puzzles and likes Siamese cats is a friend of mine. Plus, the second smartest woman I have ever known (C.C. is tops) was also a JH English teacher.

Across:

1. Mirage sights?: CARD GAMES - I'll bet you could find CARD GAMES at this Las Vegas hotel/casino but no oasis

10. Hint: WHIFF - Yeah, this WHIFF is giving her a hint

15. Puccini's Rodolfo, for one: OPERA ROLE - Spoiler alert! Mimi dies of consumption in Rodolfo's arms in the final scene of La Boheme 

16. Word with society or system: HONOR - People who violate the HONOR system should not get into the HONOR society

17. Parties like there's no tomorrow: LETS LOOSE.

18. Singular: OUTRE.

19. Recipe word: ADD.

20. Utter: PURE - Triskaidekaphobia is utter nonsense to us science peeps

21. Serves, with "out": DISHES.

22. Considerable number: MASS.

23. Implore: BESEECH - Reminds me of this wonderful Godspell song - We BESEECH Thee

24. Traditional Mesoamerican fare: TAMALE.

27. Name on the 1969 album "Clouds": JONI - Ms. Mitchell's wonderful song and album.

28. One may be purposely broken: LAW which might cause the police to 51. Pick up: NAB the offender

29. Program access aids: ICONS - These are the ones we bloggers use here

30. Pop-up fare: TOAST - I TOAST my English muffins twice for extra crispness

31. Former NHL forward Tikkanen: ESA - Here 'ya go

32. Nothing more than: MERE.

33. City ordinance subject: NOISE - Around the 4th of July these ordinances are not 41. Require compliance with: ENFORCEd quite to the letter of the law

34. Bit of power: WATT.


35. Green of "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children": EVA - EVA Green as Miss Peregrine appears to be armed with a crossbow

36. Contaminate: TAINT - One bad apple...

37. Word in a marriage metaphor: AISLE - Marriage is a "Walk down the AISLE"

38. __ Aviv: TEL - "Hill of Spring" founded in 1909

39. Restraining order: HALT.

40. __ storm: WINTER - It can increase traffic to web sites to check for school closings. I think kids go there too.

43. Woven line: CORD.

44. Provoke: STIR UP and 6. Turn on: AROUSE - Is it getting warm in here?

45. Oregon's highest mountain: HOOD - Mt. HOOD from the International Rose Garden in Portland is an awesome sight!

46. Org. with Eagles: BSA - Now both boys and girls can make Eagle Scout

49. Squeezable holders: TUBES.

50. Listen: LEND AN EAR - Shakespeare put similar words in Mark Antony's mouth

52. Upstanding: ERECT.

53. Regular beach walker's resource: TIDE TABLE - The TIDE TABLES if I were taking a group to Cocoa Beach today

54. Load with jeans, say: DARKS - Every student should have to cut out the lower squares and sort them correctly

55. They don't sting: DRONE BEES - The DRONES only job is to mate with an unfertilized queen

Down:

1. Cuba libre ingredient: COLA.

2. Behaved like: APED.

3. Like many Fla. residents: RETD 

4. Ones often working in small rms.: DRS.

5. Thelma and Louise, e.g.: GAL PALS - To the end

7. "Wuthering Heights" scenery: MOORS - It was hard for Catherine and Heathcliffe to 9. Make out: SEE each other in the MOORS. Yeah, I know there's a second way to construe "make out" but...

8. Apart from this: ELSE.

10. Response to a bell: WHO IS IT - Needed one more cell to enter SALIVATE

11. __ wine: HOUSE - A usual order for a wine know-nothing like yours truly

12. At all: IN THE LEAST - "That joke was not funny IN THE LEAST"

13. Ship's deck sometimes reduced to six letters: FORECASTLE - The F'O'CSLE of the Queen Mary is behind the bow and in front of the first stack

14. It's in ice caps and ice sheets: FRESH WATER - Where over 68% of FRESH WATER is found

21. Like urban population: DENSE - Exhibit A: Hong Kong

22. Giraffe feature: MANE - _ A _ E made me think NAPE but...

23. Talk a good game: BOAST- Joe Namath shocked the sports world when he made good on his 1969 BOAST

24. Borne out long-term: TIME TESTED.

25. Fictional detective often seen wearing an open aloha shirt: ACE VENTURA - You either like Jim Carrey's brand of humor or you don't

26. Strength of character: MORAL FIBER - See Gandhi above

27. Cooler: JOINT - Also jail, gray bar hotel, hoosegow, club fed, gaol, et al

30. Decorative fabric: TOILE - Here 'ya go


33. Rights org. since 1909: NAACP.

34. Leaf blower: WIND - I am very aware of WIND in my two avocations - biking and golf

36. Fencing maneuvers: THRUSTS.

37. Show time: AIR DATE - Usually there is a three month gap between when a Jeopardy game is taped and that show's AIR DATE

40. Stiff: WOODEN - Some pols just aren't good "on the stump"

42. Eponymous vacuum brand: ORECK.

43. Many a time-share: CONDO - This company specializes in getting people OUT OF time-shares

45. Next in line: HEIR.

46. Tiny tot, in Toledo: BEBE - When Michael Buble sings Melancholy Baby in Spanish, the first line is "Ven a Mi BEBE Melancolico" (Come to my my melancholy baby)

47. Commission source: SALE - Their commission rate is why we chose this company to list MIL's house

48. Combative deity: ARES - Gods of war can be that way

50. Part of LLC: Abbr.: LTD - LIMITED Liability Company

Comment away. I'm sure Gail will overlook grammar errors:

Saturday, September 28, 2019, Ed Sessa

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Ed Sessa

Today Dr. Ed Sessa makes a house call to our little literary popsicle stand and prescribes a very challenging exercise. This one took me a little longer than most Saturdays with OLA_/A_ILA being my last fill (wouldn't you know that our old Scandinavian friend OLAV/OLAF would be in the mix). I did choose correctly because I knew of Cleveland Indian second baseman Bobby Avila much more than I did where Isabella I was born.

Let's see what else the good doctor has for us today:

Across:

1. Little more than a drop: THIMBLEFUL. 

11. Gossip: DISH - Some in the teacher's lounge can really DISH the DIRT

15. Simile for "luve" in a classic poem: RED RED ROSE - Robert Burns

16. "__ the valley of Death ... ": Tennyson: INTO - Now Lord Tennyson's poetry makes an appearance but on a far rougher note

17. C.S. Lewis, for one: ALLEGORIST - Continuing in the literary vein, some say his The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a Christian ALLEGORY

18. High seas adverb: THAR - THAR, she blows! Where? THAR!

19. Declared one's innocence, say: PLED 23. "I'm innocent": NOT ME - It means either I didn't do it or you can't prove I did.

20. Over and done with: PAST - American generals started fighting the Civil War using Napoleonic tactics of the PAST despite new weaponry  

21. Trio in H2O: ATOMS - Two hydrogens and one oxygen

22. Varnish option: MATTE.

24. __ Brava: Spanish tourist site: COSTA - What does it cost to rent this vacation home along Spain's COSTA Brava (wild coast)?

28. Emailers, e.g.: USERS.

30. Bentley of "American Beauty": WES - Thora Birch and Mena Suvari were also in this movie and have appeared in our crosswords 

31. Nadya Suleman, in 2009 headlines: OCTO MOM - Public opinion turned against her when it was discovered that she already had six children and was on public assistance

33. No-frills flight feature: LOW FARE - Probably has a very limited wine list

35. Martial artist/musician Steven: SEAGAL - Here ya go! So tough, he doesn't even use a pick on this fun tune

36. Straighten up: NEATEN.

37. Instruments also called rumba shakers: MARACAS - Just in case you don't know

39. Genetic identifiers: MARKERS - Your saliva, uh, speaks

40. Connections: INS - When boss's son gets a job for which someone else is much more qualified

41. Isabella I's birth city: AVILA - She was born in the Castilian town of  Madrigal de las Altas Torres, ÁVILA and married Ferdinand of Aragon. Of course they are most famous for financing a certain sailor from Genoa, Italy 

43. To the point: TERSE - I'll take TERSE over TMI anytime!

44. Snake targets: CLOGS.

46. Factor of diez: CINCO - Si, CINCO veces dos es igual a diez (Yes, five times two equals ten)
48. More than just eats: DINES.

49. Texter's "May I say": IMHO.

50. "__ Before Chanel": 2009 film: COCO - Meh...

54. Military group: UNIT.

55. "Sgt. Pepper" collectible: ALBUM COVER - Here's the cover and who's on it

57. Shakers, but not movers: SECT - Shakers are a millenarian nontrinitarian restorationist Christian SECT founded circa 1747. Huh?

58. Workers behind bars: LION TAMERS - They prefer being called LION TRAINERS as LIONS can not really be tamed

59. Deuce topper: TREY.

60. Connect with by nailing, say: FASTEN ONTO.


Down:

1. Yap: TRAP -Two crude mouth references 

2. Inferno: HELL.

3. Not occupied: IDLE.

4. '60s role for Bamboo Harvester: MR ED - His real name of course, of course. He seemed to have more 14. Stable judgment?: HORSE SENSE than the other characters in this sit com

5. Entreat: BEG.

6. Parkinson's drug: L DOPA - An intriguing, touching movie about L DOPA

7. Post-printing problem: ERRATUM - Computers make correcting an ERRATUM (uptown word for an error) much more doable

8. Palms off (on): FOISTS 

9. Company co-founded by J.P. Morgan: US STEEL - A captain of industry/robber baron

10. Reason for a court replay: LET - To see if the tennis serve touched the net (called a LET). If it did the point is replayed. Volleyball has changed the rule so that a serve that hits the net is in play 

11. Likewise: DITTO - He couldn't bring himself to say the word

12. Like a stereotypical cannibal captive: IN HOT WATER 

13. Claudius and Porky Pig: STAMMERERS - King George (corrected) VI also

21. Be called: ANSWER TO.

22. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" singer: MAMA CASS - "She had to overcome John Phillips' concern that her voice was too low for his (Mamas and Papas) arrangements, that her physical appearance would be an obstacle to the band's success and that her temperament was incompatible with his." Yeah, she was the odd one!

24. Matter of space: COSMIC DUST - If you're interested 

25. Port-to-port connector: OCEAN LINER.

26. Scott Hamilton venue: STARS ON ICE.

27. Cover-up in Nero's time: TOGA.

29. Novelist Jaffe: RONA - Here 'ya go

32. Scandinavian patron: OLAV.

34. Art buyer's concern: FAKE - Which one is real? (answer at bottom of blog)

38. Strait of Messina isola: SICILIA - An image from space of where the two-mile bridge connecting isola of SICILIA (island of Sicily) with the Italian region of Calabria might be built over the Strait of Messina

39. It often follows a breakout: MAN HUNT - The movie and TV show The Fugitive traced the MAN HUNT for Dr. Richard Kimble

42. Transitional situations: LIMBOS - I'm sure Dr. Ed would consider "Pole dances" as a very marginal clue 😏

45. Big name in oil: GETTY.

47. Title in a Dumas title: COMTE - Yeah right, I was the only one who put in COUNT first instead of this French word for Count. My wife's maiden name was Christo (nee Christo) and she had a cousin named Monte.

50. Lake of Lombardy: COMO - Lake COMO is in the northern Italian administration district of Lombardy which abuts Switzerland

51. Spot for pots: OVEN.

52. Marriage doc.: CERT - Not LISC it turns out

53. Roughly: OR SO.

55. Loser to Franklin in '36: ALF - Uh, what does a landslide look like...

56. Spam holder: CAN - My city of Fremont, NE makes a lot of Spam and in 2011 its citizens built the world's largest open-faced sandwich (Guinness) using that product

Add a comment and then take two aspirin and call Dr. Ed in the morning!

The real American Gothic is on the right.

Saturday, September 21, 2019, Evan Kalish

Themeless Saturday by Evan Kalish

Today's constructor is our old friend Evan Kalish who has gone "postal" by amassing over 30,000 pictures of post offices at his fun website. You may remember that in this picture Evan is holding a picture of the post office in Yellow Jacket, Colorado.

Evan's comments on today's puzzle: It’s easy to overlook 14-letter entries when constructing themeless crosswords. I thought it would be interesting to create a grid with comparatively few (66) words showcasing a couple of lively 14s in the middle, with “caption contest" being the seed. The grid layout is segmented though still fairly open, which enabled quite a few long, lively answers in the corners (my personal favorite being “I’ll be here!”)

His sixty-six word entry took longer than most for this solver as some fill that looked perfectly fine to me did not get Evan's "stamp" of approval. Hey, you had to see that coming.

Erin definitely did not simply "mail it in" today (enough already!):

Across:

1. Prepared for a shot: TOOK AIM - William Tell had nothing like this!

8. It dropped "Western" from its name in 1997: SAMOA - Not to be confused with American Samoa

13. By design: ON PURPOSE - My pedantic toes curl up when I hear "ON ACCIDENT"

16. Basic: PLAIN.

17. Come to one's senses: SEE REASON.

18. Not level: ATILT - There's this tower in western Italy...

19. Department store section: CARDS 

20. Pacific resort, popularly: CABO - Driving there from my house would involve using the Topolobampo Ferry to cross the Gulf of California

22. Some years ago: ONCE  

23. Like: ALA.

24. Westernmost African capital: DAKAR - The Obamas stand in the infamous "Door Of No Return" where many West African slaves boarded ships from Goree Island just two miles east of DAKAR, Senegal

25. Hardly Mr. Cool: NERD.

26. Commonly crumbled fare: SALTINES.

29. Word on Italian street signs: VIA - The VIAS (streets) on the west and east side of the Pantheon

30. Competition involving pictures: CAPTION CONTEST - The three finalists in The New Yorker Magazine CAPTION CONTEST #675 (and Evan's seed entry)

33. Hometown folks: LOCALS - What About Bob?

34. Portmanteau coin: TOONIE - Because Canada's $1 coin was called a Loonie because it had a Loon on the back, when Canada minted a $2 coin they conjoined Loonie and Two and got a TOONIE.

35. Longtime Warner Bros. output: ANIMATED SHORTS - They produced Looney (not LOONIE) Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that entertained me for hours in my misspent yute and still play well today

39. __ player: DVD - I think we have two somewhere

40. Calm: SERENITY.

41. Legendary Asian: YETI - Legend indeed

43. "War on Peace" author __ Farrow: RONAN - Is his real father Frank Sinatra and not Woody Allen?

44. Network for cinema lovers: TMC - Today's schedule there

47. Homecoming figure: GRAD.

48. Headline: STAR - Who would be the STAR if this facetious poster was for a real event?

49. Pinky __: SWEAR - The Seinfeld made a Pinky SWEAR for "The Contest"

51. Completely lost: AT SEA.

53. Waiting line: I'LL BE HERE - Evan's fav corner entry

55. Imply: GET AT

56. Some of Nixon's Plumbers, formerly: CIA AGENTS - They pulled the "Third Rate Burglary" that brought down a president

57. Simpson of fashion: ADELE -Here ya go!

58. "Aha!": THAT'S IT.


Down:

1. Puccini 3-Down: TOSCA and 3. See 1-Down: OPERA. An interesting way to pair these two

2. Magic star of the '90s: ONEAL - Shaq with a former girlfriend

4. Member of an Iraqi minority: KURD 

5. "Wonder Woman" (2017) villain: ARES - Here ya go!

6. Microbrew option: IPA - A crossword standard 

7. Asti wine grape: MOSCATO - Italian for the French Muscat grape

8. Pampering place: SPA.

9. Brown on the Food Network: ALTON - Sticks and stone may break my bones but names can really slow down my solving


10. Ring centerpiece: MAIN EVENT - This poster was way before Ali was the MAIN EVENT.  It even did 12. Come before: ANTEDATE when he became Ali.

11. Cause of many '70s lines: OIL CRISIS - I remember a former student telling me, "Sorry, Mr. Schlapfer, we're out of gas."

14. Really absorb: SOAK IN 

15. With all judges present, as at a Circuit Court: EN BANC - French for "in bench". 

21. Lower-calorie cookie since 2015: OREO THIN - 13 fewer calories than a regular OREO and 30 fewer than a double-stuff OREO

24. Hardly Hollywood's most wanted: D-LISTERS - Some Hollywood D-LISTERS

26. Filter target: SPAM - The father of a boy I has in class was in charge of the successful popularizing of edible Hormel SPAM in Beijing, China

27. World record?: ATLAS.

28. High-and-mighty sort: SNOOT - He's called a SNOOT because his is up in the air

30. Exchanged for an equivalent: CONVERTED - I still have a €5 note from 13 years ago I have yet to have CONVERTED to dollars

31. Pucker inducer: ACID TASTE

32. Revolutionary-era loyalist: TORY.

33. Super Bowl LI performer: LADY GAGA - Talk about an entrance!

36. Hot: EROTIC - See above

37. View from Anchorage: DENALI - You can see its 46. Peak: CREST in the background, NW across the Knik Arm of The Cook Inlet

38. Warn, watchdog-style: SNARL AT

42. Utopian: IDEAL.

44. Many Beliebers: TEENS 

45. Cuban hero José: MARTI - Here ya go!

49. Dreamcast maker: SEGA - If you're interested

50. Sharpen: WHET - A WHETstone 

52. Had: ATE.

54. "What a terrible idea!": BAH - Ebenezer's opinion of Christmas. "What, you want the day off?"

If you want to, you may mail in your comments from America's smallest post office in Ochopee, Florida (seen below) which of course is in Evan's collection. Or you may simply comment electronically here!